2016 in Kenyan tech - some progress, but heightened anxieties

What you need to know:

  • Persons with disabilities are not being catered for in the Kenyan digital revolution
  • NOFBI can support more services, but county governments prefer to use alternative communication channels for various valid and invalid reasons
  • Very few companies would want to host content locally if they feel the government could one day shut them down 

This is my last blog of the year, which I traditionally reserve for reviewing the past twelve months and previewing the agenda in the coming year.

Fortunately, three weeks ago, KICTAnet carried out a survey to establish what various stakeholders felt were the issues in 2016.

It makes a good summary of the 2016 ICT year, so we highlight some findings here.

Questionnaires covering five thematic areas as defined in the 2014-2017 ICT Master Plan were sent to stakeholders that included government, regulators, private sector, academia, media, civil society and technical communities.

The thematic areas covered were policy and legal framework, regulatory framework, human capital, physical infrastructure and information infrastructure.

Under policy and legal framework matters, it was observed that the government had executed good multi-stakeholder engagement, including review and update of the 2006 National ICT Master Plan.

Additionally, the Access to Information Bill was finally assented to after circulating endlessly in Parliament for over 10 years. Now citizens can demand and formally receive information that is of public interest from the government .

COSTLY LEVIES

On the downside, stakeholders pointed out that a few more critical Bills remain stuck at various levels such as the Data Protection and the Cybercrime Bills.  Additionally, the controversial ICT Practitioners Bill continues to progress in Parliament, sending mixed signals to the industry.

On the regulatory front, stakeholders felt the dominance-related matters around Safaricom have not been adequately resolved. This may be behind the sustained high cost of communications, particularly for broadband internet .

Stakeholders also observed that the urban–rural digital divide was widening. Big towns continue to enjoy high-speed access while their rural counterparts struggle with lower quality, unreliable services.

This ties in with another observation, that the Universal Service Fund (USF) had not met its objectives of fast tracking integration of rural, underserved areas to the information superhighway.

Persons with disabilities are also not being catered for in the Kenyan digital revolution. Government websites mostly lack provisions for those who are blind, deaf or physically challenged in one way or another.

With regard to human capital, 40 per cent of respondents felt tertiary institutions were providing the requisite skills needed to support the ICT industry. The Laptop Project and the Konza Techno City project were also considered very useful in supporting development of the requisite human capital. However, industry-academia-government linkages continued to be weak, leading to missed opportunities for each member of this critical triad.

With regard to physical infrastructure , stakeholders observed that fibre and mobile networks have been widely deployed by both the private sector and government. Challenges, however, continue at regional and county levels where network gaps exist, while costly levies are charged for way-leaves. 

INCREASED THREATS

Additionally, the continued lack of shared infrastructure means operators inconveniently dig up the same road infrastructure multiple times as they expand their networks.

The government-owned National Optical Fibre Infrastructure (NOFBI), that cuts across all 47 counties, remains underutilised. NOFBI capacity remains idle most of the time and is only used occasionally when county governments need to access the government financial system, IFMIS.  

NOFBI can support more services, but county governments prefer to use alternative communication channels for various valid and invalid reasons.

Finally, with respect to information infrastructure, stakeholders acknowledged the positive impact Huduma Centres, the eCitizen portal and others have had on streamlining government services. On the downside, respondents felt the local content industry has not been adequately supported.

Increased threats to censor online content and shut down sections of our communications sent chilling signals to the sector.  Very few companies would want to host content locally if they feel the government could one day shut them down. 

They would rather pick the .com domain over .ke and host abroad, rather than live under a shutdown threat.

In conclusion, 2016 had plenty to be both concerned for and optimistic about.  Let's hope for a better 2017.

Mr Walubengo is a lecturer at the Multimedia University of Kenya, Faculty of Computing and IT. Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jwalu